Natural Homemade Dish Soap That Works
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This natural homemade dish soap recipe is so easy to make, smells wonderful, works amazingly well, saves you money, and is environmentally friendly. How much better can it get? Not only will it cut through grease, but it’s safe for you and your family.
This natural dish soap is a new twist on a very old recipe on the blog.
I did some tweaking to fix some problems that were coming up, and the new results are so much better! No more grating a bar soap with inconsistent results.
So many people find that homemade cleaners don’t work as well as their chemical counterparts, but I can assure you that this one works well.
It’s tough on grease and suds up amazingly well, making it easy to enjoy this natural switch.
It is also cheaper than typical, natural dish soaps, which usually cost around $4 per 25 oz. This one will set you back around $3. So, slightly cheaper.
It also has a better rating from the EWG website. I’ve tried a few of the store-bought, natural dish soap options, and I find them to be disappointing, and you need a lot of it for it to work.
However, I still love to use the store-bought options in this really effective DIY Stain Remover.
We’ve loved this natural DIY dish soap recipe in our house. Getting used to the consistency takes a little adjustment, and you don’t have to use very much for great results.
I promise you, this recipe works great, and your dirty dishes will become remarkably clean.
Why you will love this recipe:
Actually works: Greasy dishes stand no chance with this homemade version.
Natural ingredients: Commercial dish soap contains many harmful ingredients that are known endocrine disruptors like fragrance. When it comes to finding a natural store-bought dish soap, I like to check the EWG (environmental working group) website to see the healthiest options. Transitioning to natural cleaning products is a great way to reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals and create a healthier home environment.
Easy: The good news is making your own homemade dish soap is way easier than you think. Using a liquid soap like sal suds, makes this process much easier. No grating, boiling down ingredients, mixing for long periods or using special equipment (like an immersion blender).
Eco-friendly: Not only will you reduce your environmental impact by cutting down on plastic packaging, but also contribute to a more eco-friendly cleaning routine for a healthier planet and home.
Customizable: Making your own dish soap also allows you to customize the scent and strength of the soap to suit your preferences and cleaning needs.
Cost effective: More cost-effective option in the long run, as many of the ingredients needed are often pantry staples or easily accessible at local stores.
Tips:
- The consistency is much thinner than regular dish soap, and a little bit goes a long way. Just because it is runny doesn’t mean it is ineffective.
- You can place it in a soap pump, foaming soap pump, or just put it in an old, dish soap bottle.
- You may have to shake it up a little before you use it, but it shouldn’t clump and separate like the last recipe!
- Don’t substitute the sal suds for liquid castile soap. Since this recipe contains vinegar, it will not work with castile soap.
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Tools you may need:
Measuring spoons
Spoon
Soap dispenser. A foaming pump dispenser works the best. I like to use a glass rather than plastic bottles when using essential oils, because oils can break down the plastic.
The Ingredients:
- Dr. Bronner Sal Suds – This is like the ultra-concentrated, cleaning power of Castile soaps (which is a staple in any natural-living cabinet, hello, hand soap). This mild detergent is powerful and works amazingly well to clean dishes without any soap scum or residue. It can also be used to clean floors, counters, laundry, and more. It also works great in hard water (something we struggle with here at our house).
- Some people don’t like the fact that it contains sodium lauryl sulfate, and believe it to be carcinogenic. According to the company, it is a processed ingredient made from coconut that studies find have no carcinogenic effects (source).
- This is also different from castile soap, which doesn’t work very well for cleaning (and can’t be used in conjunction with vinegar, which this recipe contains). Castile soap is a soap that is meant to be used for personal care and better for your skin, while sal suds is a mild detergent.
- Water – I would recommend using distilled water or water that was boiled and cooled to help reduce the chance of bacterial growth.
- Vinegar – Helps cut grease and provides a streak-free shine.
- Vegetable glycerin (optional) – This helps create more sudsing power and helps moisturize your hands.
- Your favorite essential oils (optional): Twenty drops of your favorite essential oils. Ones used specifically for cleaning are my favorite. This is citrus oils, pine, tea tree, spruce essential oil, etc.
Essential Oils
Essential oils not only add a pleasant scent to your dish soap, but also offer additional cleaning and antibacterial properties.
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Lemon essential oil or citrus essential oil. One of my favorites to add since citrus oils work great as a degreaser to get those dishes squeaky clean.
Other essential oils have antibacterial properties. Optional: 10-20 drops of On-Guard, Thieves, or tea tree oil (anti-bacterial; if you like the smell you can add more, if not, add less). You can really play around with different essential oils to find your favorite.
How To Make Natural Homemade Dish Soap:
If not using distilled water, bring water to a boil for a few minutes and then let it cool down a bit before starting the next step.
n a medium-sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir well.
Add 20 drops of essential oil. I like to use citrus oils, like lemon, because it is tough on grease. You can also use anti-bacterial type oils like On-Guard or Thieves. Tea tree would also work well.
Pour homemade soap into a foaming soap dispenser. You can also use mason jars or another container, but a foaming dispenser is what I found to work the best.
That’s it! Wasn’t that easy? You do like two minutes of work and you’re done.
Variations:
Citrus: Add 20 drops of lemon, grapefruit, mandarin, etc.
Lavender mint: One of my favorite combos adds about 15 drops of lavender and 5 drops of peppermint.
Holiday: I love Christmas tree smells with pine, Siberian fir, Douglas fir, etc. Or that classic holiday smells of clove, cinnamon, orange, and Douglas fir.
Herbal mint: Add mint (or spearmint) and eucalyptus.
Tips For Using This DIY Dish Soap
- Be sure to shake the bottle before each use to ensure the ingredients are well mixed.
- When washing dishes, use a small amount of soap as a little goes a long way with these concentrated formulas.
- For tough grease or baked-on food, allow the soap to sit on the dishes for a few minutes before scrubbing.
- Additionally, consider using a natural bristle brush or sponge to help with scrubbing power without scratching delicate dishes. After washing, be sure to rinse thoroughly to remove any soap residue (luckily sal suds are very biodegradable and have been approved for gray water systems).
FAQ
You can in a pinch, but I would recommend this foaming hand soap to use instead because it is much more gentle on your hands.
Or this natural hand sanitizer while you’re out and about.
Vinegar alone can not replace dish soap because it does not break down fats like soap will.
Hand soaps usually contain other ingredients that will leave residue on your dishes like skin softeners and fragrances. They will not rinse off leaving a bad taste in your mouth.
Yes you can, but I found it not a super effective dish detergent. Dishes would still have grease or residue left after using it. Sal suds is a much more effective cleaner for dishes.
Would I be in a pinch if I had nothing else? Yes I would.
Find More Homemade Cleaning Products That Work!
- All-Purpose Cleaner (that can also be used on glass!)
- DIY Furniture Polish
- Homemade dishwasher detergent
- Glass-Cleaner
- Homemade Laundry Detergent
- 15 House Cleaning Tips For A Naturally Clean Home
If you’ve tried and loved this recipe, make sure to come back and give it 5 stars and tag me on Instagram @ablossominglife.
Homemade Dish Soap
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Equipment
- Measuring cup and spoons
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup distilled water or water that was boiled and cooled
- 1/2 cup sals suds
- 2 tbs whtie vinegar
- 1 tbs vegetable glycerin
- 20 drops essential oils
Instructions
- If not using distilled water, boil water for a few minutes and then allow to cool.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir well.
- Add essential oils and stir. I like to use citrus oils (like lemon) because it is tough on grease.
I couldn’t get it to thicken. Any suggestions?
It takes at least 8 to 12 hours to thicken. otherwise the only thing I could think of is that there wasn’t enough soap or to much water! Im sorry it didn’t thicken for you! Thats so strange!
I tried it again with Ivory soap this time and it thickened so much I think I will have to dilute it with more water to get it to flow through the pump!!! SO glad it worked out this time!
Ah good I’m so happy it worked for you!!!
mine didnt thincken either but it still works try try again next time i guess maybe grate soap better or something i dont know i will find out next time
Thats so weird to me that its not thickening! Maybe try to add some more soap! I used a really fine grate when I did it. Mine is really thick! Glad it still works!
thats what i was going to try next mine was not very fine this time like usually is for doing this like this i misplaced my normal grater and had to used different one. oh well live and learn.
i used the kirk’s coconut castile soap and mine didn’t thicken either even without glycerin which i didn’t have.
actually, i’ve heard it is best to use a laundry soap bar to make liquid dish soap so one doesn’t get the film that regular castile soaps can leave. the laundry soap bars have less oil or fat in them so they aren’t supposed to leave a residue on dishes or clothes. i am going to order some (there are lots on etsy if you search for “laundry soap bar”) and give this another try as i love how easy the recipe is. then, i’ll try out a laundry soap recipe too. 🙂
Hey Amy! thanks for sharing this. My daughter is big time into making her own detergent and has just about convinced me to come along. 🙂 I was looking for a recipe for dishwasher detergent and noticed you have one, so I’m going to look at that, too, although I bet you could use this in the dishwasher since it doesn’t suds up…maybe? Anyway…great post…lots of great info on your site.
Thanks!
You may be able to! I personally haven’t tried that yet, but its work a shot! I’m happy that your starting to turn to the dark side of making your own cleaners! Its super fun and saves you so much money!
can you use liquid castile soap?
You can just use liquid castile soap instead of making this recipe. It is much more expensive though
I think you can add lavender or orange essential oil instead of tea tree..They all work as a disenfectant.and smell better…
You probably could use lavender but I don’t think orange because its acidic. It would make it smell better than tree tea oil for sure!!! Not my favorite shell but it works!
Palm oil & coconut oil are both very healthy & good for you!
where do you find the Dr. Bronner’s soap? I would love to try this dish soap too and I am just about out of what I have.
You can find Dr Bronners online (that’s what I had to do). Amazon had it cheap.
I live in a smaller town then most and i was able to find it at Walgreens and my local grocery store so you could try that. I loved trying this but I don’t know about the math. I mean when you make your own laundry soap its very easy to tell that its worth it but with this you have dr bronners soap 5 dollars tea tree i bought liquid bronners tea tree soap and just add a little so it will make suds and have that oil
and then the glycerin was 3.50 for 9 oz. Now i still have the liquid soap and the glycerin but now when i need more i have to go out and buy more soap and i have tried ivory and it leaves a residue on my dishes
Is Ivory bar soap completely pure and chemical free?
This recipe looks great!
Thanks!
I don’t think so. I looked up the ingredients and couldn’t pronounce any of them. Sorry! You could probably still make this with it though!
Does it cut grease?
Yep! I think it does a great job! We don’t have super greasy dishes but has worked great for us!
yes it worked on tough grease for me greasy chicken broiler pan yuck and did great job
I did research and a cheap bottle of tea tree oil is about $5 plus…So I am not so sure I want to try this out, DYI vs buying a cheap bottle…CHEAP bottle is gonna win…
You have to use a very little bit of the oil so this recipe is still comes out cheap.
Tea tree oil also has lots of other uses and each time you only use a bit! It works great to stop itchy bug bites. Diluted with a bit of water it dries up zits too! It’s also an antiseptic so you can use it in first aid. You can google all the other uses.
Totally worth the 5 bucks because it’ll last a long time and you can use it for more than just the soap.
Visiting you from the Homestead Barn blog hop 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. We go through a ton of dish soap and it’s expensive, especially when you try to use the good natural/organic kind. I just may have to give your recipe a try soon!
I’ve been enjoying your blog! You have a lot of great information 🙂
I’d like to invite you to join in my blog hop tomorrow, Get Real Frugal Friday, if you are interested 🙂
http://realfoodrealfrugal.com/category/get-real-frugal-friday/
Blessings!
Susan
Where do you buy liquid. castile soap
You can buy it at most grocery stores near the health food section or on amazon.
Is there a way to make this with liquid castile soap? I don’t use Dr. Bronner’s bar soap because it contains palm oil. Thanks!
Nope, but you can just use the liquid castile soap to wash dishes!
Absolutely use can make this recipe with liquid castile soap – just use a ratio of 1 part soap to 2 parts water and keep all the other ingredients the same. (Yes, you still want the glycerin, as it acts as a solvent in this case as well.) It won’t be *quite* as thick and viscous as the bar soap recipe here, but neither will you have to wait for it to set up – just pour directly into your bottles.
Kudos for not using palm oil!! So much destruction & devastation is being caused by the production of it. 🙁
Deforestation makes me sad sad! Luckily not all palm oil is made alike… Look up Dr. Bronner’s Magic “ALL-ONE” and read about it!… I am glad that people care about this issue!Peace and Joy-Melissa
Do you have any idea if essential lemon oil can be added?
I don’t think you can. I tried to do some research and it said that you can’t add an acid and I guess lemon oil is acidic oil. If you want to try it I would just add a little bit of oil to a small portion of it to see what happens.
Lemon essential oil should be just fine. Essential oils are so concentrated that you only add a few drops, so there wouldn’t be sufficient acid to curdle the soap.
Thanks Kresha for clearing this up! I wasn’t sure and couldn’t really find the answer!
I love this recipe! I have to have suds, though, so I also added 2 Tbsp of Dr Bronner’s liquid castile in Almond. It smells awesome, and gives me just enough suds to chill my OCD about suds. I know I don’t NEED them, but *sigh* I NEED them! LOL
Thanks for this recipe! Love it love it love it!!
Haha your funny! That is an awesome idea Tammy! Thanks for sharing! I think I will add this to the post!
Can you JUST use liquid castile soap instead of the hard soap?
thanks!
Mona, my daughter uses only liquid castile and swears by it. 🙂
I use the almond liquid Castile soap to wash my hair and I rinse with water and ACV. I do get suds with the liquid soap. My idea… I don’t see why you can’t use liquid instead of bar but what would the conversion ratio be? How much liquid to equal a bar? Also on the question of adding lemon essential oil, the Dr Bronners bar soap has organics essential lemon oil doesn’t it? I made some laundry powder and used the citrus bars. All the ones I have used have the essential oils in them. I was also wondering because the Castile soap I have read shouldn’t be used on color treated hair which mine is but is wearing off so I am planning to try henna instead of chemical color at the salon but I don’t want to buy special shampoo with chemicals…grrrr Anybody have any experience with any of this? I will make this dish soap today! I do have a dishwasher and has prob only been used a couple of dozen times in 11 years. It’s just the 2 of us so it’s more energy saving to just wash the few dishes. Houseful of ppl eating at my house… I use dishwasher. I also make my laundry powder. Use vinegar as a fabric softener and get rid of any build up. And make my own glass/counter cleaners. I do it not just for savings but to decrease chemicals in my house.
I’m with you! I don’t think I can handle having no suds! So, where can I get the “suds-maker” you mentioned? Am eager to try this recipe with your addition.
Karen, I ordered the Dr. Bronner’s liquid and bar soap from Amazon. I’ve just made the recipe so I’m not sure how much liquid I’ll have to add to get the amount of suds I “need’, lol! Here’s the link for each. Good luck!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001A15MI8/ref=twister_B00CKF24L6
http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Bronners-Pure-Castile-Organic-Citrus/dp/B0001TSISQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1402182791&sr=1-4&keywords=dr.+bronners+citrus+castile+soap
Thanks for sharing this on The HomeAcre Hop! So glad to have you join me 🙂 Can’t wait to see what you have to share next week!
Where to you buy the vegetable glycerin and the tea tree oil? I’ve never heard of it but really want to try it. I just washed bbq greasy jeans with the homemade laundry detergent I made and they came out clean. Normally I have to scrub and use stain removers to even touch the stains. So can’t wait to try the dish soap!
I got my vegetable glycerin at a local coop! You should be able to find some at a Whole Foods, Walgreens, or CVS. Tea tree oil I get from a the coop or Hobby Lobby. I think they sell it at the same places as the vegetable glycerin! I love homemade laundry detergent too! Good luck with this recipe! Hope it works great for you!
CVS carries tea tree oil now, in the vitamin section. sometimes its two for one! I got it at that price. Also I found it a the dollar store.
Tea Tree is sold in the vitamin aisle at wal mart as well. $8 or less for a nice sized bottle.
I purchased vegetable glycerin and tea tree oil at my local Whole Food Stores or any Natural Food Grocery.
I found my glycerine and tea tree oil, oddly enough, at K-Mart in the pharmacy department by accident one day. They have a section that I thought was an ethnic personal care section but it turned out to be a natural personal care section. Go K-Mart !!!
I pinned this 🙂
Thanks SJ! Much appreciated!
Great idea! I’ve been paying a lot for the organic stuff. I would love to have you share this on The HomeAcre Hop!
http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/01/the-homeacre-hop-3.html
I’d like to give this one a go! Do you use it in the dishwasher as well, or is it just for hand washing dishes?
I have not tried it in the dish washer I usually just use it to hand wash dishes! I use this recipe for my dishwasher detergent.
Interesting! I never thought to make your own!
can not wait to try it? i hope that this one works better for me and the type of water i have lol! thank you so much again and i will report back as soon as i have tried it.
I hope so too! Can’t wait to hear your results! Good luck!
ok finally got a chance to make and try it and oh this works so much better than other reciepe did and i have tried a lot. did u find this or make it yourself if yourself great job so far so good with it think u found a winner has a big smilely in my frugal notebook lol. thank u so much again i love all ur ideas.
Awww thanks Emanda! I actually got the idea from another post I did on making hand soap but made a version for dishes! I’m so glad you like it!
Am anxious to try